Prologue

Nothing is so unbelievable that an oratory cannot make it acceptable ... or so they say. And because you asked, I will tell you my story, and how it started, and as much as I want to tell you that story in words I cannot, because you would think me insane. So instead I will put it all down on paper and then let you decide. I will attempt to write it in chronological order just as it occurred, but forgive me if I slip from time to time ... because; you see I myself do not necessarily believe it. It is only because I lived it, ah ... am yet living it that I am persuaded of its truth; and my hope is to eventually convince myself it was destiny and not random chance or hallucination. But whenever I look into a mirror and into my eyes the thing takes shape again and I know it to be true.

It was April 12th 2006. I was driving home in the dreaded Los Angeles five o'clock traffic, and of course I was stuck behind this woman in her huge sports utility vehicle. She wasn't paying attention to anything other than whoever was on the other end of her cell phone. As we were getting ready to merge onto the freeway I noticed an eighteen wheeler coming on fast, which suggested that all merging traffic should either, break speed and wait until it passed, or speed up in order to merge in front of the truck. This woman never even noticed the oncoming truck and she pulled out going at least 10 miles an hour slower than the eighteen-wheeler which forced the truck driver to slam on his breaks. The truck jacked-knifed and in my rear view mirror I saw the trucks trailer sliding sideways heading in a direct path toward the rear of my car with the sound of burning breaks. Then it hit me and instantly burst into flames and as they say in the movies, my whole life flashed before me in an instant...

On September 6th 1944 in it outskirts of Dallas Texas I was born Samuel C. Eldon into an upper middle class family as an only child. In 1963 directly after high school I entered the local College. It was clear to me from the outset, however, that after passing the intermediate exam in two years time I would transfer to a Technical university studying physics or mathematics. While attending the local College I dated a girl named Mary Jane Wilson, and I managed to get her knock up, so in 1964 we were married. Our daughter Clarity Beth Eldon was born on July 23rd 1965. In 1966 I transferred to TTU so Mary, Clarity and I moved away from our families. Starting an independent life in a new town was a formative experience for both Mary and I. Mary stayed at home caring for Clarity while I attended college, and worked part time at the college and part time at a hardware store. My mom and dad helped with financial support for me and my family until after I graduated with a Masters degree in 1969. That same year I was offered a good position in the Aero-space industry at a large firm located in San Diego and we moved to California. Then in 1979 with the decline of the Aero-space industry in general I took a position in the rapidly growing field of Electronics Engineering and once again my family and I were of a mind to move, this time to Los Angeles. By 1980 Clarity was fifteen years old and was forced to deal with a very traumatizing experience which helped bring about Mary Jane and me to realize that we were very different and had grown apart over the years. In 1981, we separated. Because I was by then earning a very healthy salary I did not contest the divorce and left our home and our newest car to Mary Jane, agreed to both alimony and child care and moved into a nice apartment close to where I worked. Over the next fifteen years I visited with Clarity as often as possible but, partially due to that traumatic thing that had happened to her when she was fifteen and partially due to her mother we too grew apart. In 1996 I got remarried but by 2001 I once again found myself divorced and single. Over the next five years my salary continued to grow, I remained single...

... and then the eighteen-wheeler's trailer hit me and instantly burst into flames, smashing my car under its wheels...

... I tilted my head back and felt the coolness slip around my face. The wind was split in two, as if half were blue sky and half bluish gray water below me. I looked forward, my face receiving the punishment of the wind as I had expected. What an appropriate name I thought to myself, 'heaven'. This was the closest I had ever felt to heaven, one of the few times I knew that God existed. I smiled ... and then I died.